


Dream A Little Dream Of Me

by This_world_of_beautiful_monsters



Series: Aftermaths [2]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Comics), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Torture, Trauma, bad memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:42:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_world_of_beautiful_monsters/pseuds/This_world_of_beautiful_monsters
Summary: The past leaves deep scars, ones that Raph and Alopex can only face together.
Relationships: Alopex/Raphael (TMNT)
Series: Aftermaths [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983247
Kudos: 4





	Dream A Little Dream Of Me

The world is on fire.

Heat singes her fur and makes her eyes water; smoke slides up her nose and it hurts so bad Alopex can't believe she's not bleeding. Her ears ring with the cries of her old family, intermingled with the screams of her new one. She staggers around like a drunk, screaming their names, but no one responds.

Alopex pats her waist frantically: Where are her weapons? Why won't her claws unsheathe? Where is everyone? She stumbles over something and hears the telltale clatter of a shell. When she looks down, she sees a bloody ruin and has to stagger away, dry heaving.

This isn't _fair_. She ran so far, she fought so hard, she was supposed to be _safe_ , her head is her _own_ , it was _over..._

"Alopex."

Shredder's standing there, splattered with blood, looking at her with that familiar expression of contemptuous indifference. He has Angel, Alopex's _sister_ , impaled on his claws and writhing slowly, like a worm on a hook. The sight would make her scream if she wasn't gasping for air.

He sighs, like a disappointed parent. "Did you really think you could hide from me?" He jerks his claws out of Angel with a nauseating _shhhk_ and she falls to the floor, not moving. "Disobedience _will_ be punished. Always."

Before Alopex can react, something sends into her and sends her crashing to the floor. She tries to scramble upright, but there's a blade at her throat and a three-finger hand tangled in her fur, forcing her head back. She looks up into a pair of eyes as familiar as her own. _Oh no._

 _"Raph,"_ she gasps out, but he just looks at her blankly. She recognizes that expression: it's the one that she sees in the mirror on her worst days. The look of the violated, the ruined, the ones broken beyond repair. "Raph, please..."

"He can't heaaar you, little fox," a new voice sing-songs, and now Kitsune's standing there, smirking down at her. Alopex quails from her gaze, the one that always makes her feel small and helpless all over again.

"Magnificent, isn't he?" She's got one delicate hand tangled in the tails of Raph's mask, while the other runs gentle circles on his shell. "I can see why you like him so much."

Alopex tries to snarl, but the sai presses on her windpipe, cutting her off.

"Perhaps I'll make him take you after you're dead," Kitsune muses. Blood runs down Alopex's neck, burning worse than the fire. "Then I'll wake him up, let him remember what he's done. Who knows, maybe he'll turn those pretty little blades on himself of his own free will."

 _No_. She wants to howl, but Raph slices her throat while staring at her with those dead eyes and

Alopex sits up gasping, the bedsheets slick with her sweat. Her paws are pressed against her ears, painfully, as if she's trying to reach into her skull and drag the memories out of her head. She wraps them around her body instead, hugging herself as she shivers.

 _There is no fire_ , she repeats to herself over the sound of her pounding heart. _It's okay. Everyone is okay._

She twists around to look at Raph, lying on the bed besides. He's okay, she reminds herself. He's here, he's safe, he's alive, he's not under anyone's control, he's...

...digging his fingers into the mattress, jaw tight, sweat rolling down his neck, eyes flickering under his lids, twitching and muttering to himself.

_Shit._

"Raph?"

He's back in that terrible tank again, stuffed full of wires and sensors, on display like a fucking piece of taxidermy. It hurts so bad and he's so ~~scared~~ angry, but he can't scream because they've got that awful muzzle jammed in his mouth again, choking him.

Agent Bishop is peering in at him, wearing that ever-present smirk and those stupid fucking sunglasses. "Surprised, mutant?" he asks, sending painful vibrations through Raph's bones. "Did you really think you could get rid of me? The hero will always come back as long as they are monsters to slay, and that's what you are. A big, bad, monster. We both know that you belong in a cage."

No. No. He's not a monster and Bishop's dead 'cause Slash's clone killed him and this isn't real and he _doesn't deserve this he doesn't no no no no no..._

"Is that so? Maybe we should ask them," Bishop gestures to the row of tanks that suddenly stretch out to either side of them. Raph can see shapes in each one, strung up and still. Green shapes. Familiar shapes. He lets out a choked cry.

"Oh, stop sniveling and let me work in peace," Bishop admonishes, turning away. Raph realizes that he's standing before some sort of examination table; a body has been sliced upon to reveal still-pulsing organs. Raph sees slender limbs twitching in steel restraints, white fur stained pink and red. Bile rises up in his throat.

"This is very delicate work," Bishop explains, picking up a scalpel. "She's sliced up bad enough as it, and if I'm not careful I won't have enough left to make a decent rug. And really, what else is the poor creature useful for at this point?"

Alopex whimpers and his heart twists. Raph can see two shiny objects buried in her body, holding her chest open. Oh, God.

"I suppose I should be thanking you," Bishop muses, drumming his fingers on the handle of Raph's sai. "I never would have caught her--any of them--without your help."

Nonononono he wouldn't he _wouldn't_ he's done terrible things, yes, he's broken bones and said terrible things and stood by while the mutagen bomb went off but not _this_ even he's not capable of _this_ he's not

Alopex's head twists around at an impossible angle, letting out a grinding _snap_ and _crunch_ of shattered flesh. "Raph?" she asks. He wants to cover his ears, he wants her to scream so loud his head splits open. "Raph, it's okay." _Liar liar beautiful lies_.

"Raph!"

He almost falls off the bed, but her arms, so much stronger than they look, hold him in a fierce embrace. "It's okay," she whispers as he curls in on himself, silently weeping. "It's okay." Pepperoni jumps up on the bed, nudging his feet, and the gentle reassurance makes him cry harder

When he's done he looks up at Alopex in the dim moonlight, taking in her ruffled fur, her rigid ears, the way her hands shake slightly. "You, too?" he asks, and she nods stiffly.

"Shit, Al, I..." he doesn't finish, embarrassed at making her take care of his meltdowns when she's dealing with so much baggage on her own.

"It's okay," she repeats, wrapping her tail comfortingly around his leg. "Helping you-it's a good distraction." Her tail creeps higher.

He feels her scent change, and Pepperoni hops off the bed as if she smells it, too. "Would you like me to keep...distracting you?" His hand moves to the small of her back, and he feels himself getting excited.

She rolls back, pulling him on top and pressing a condom into his hand. "Always."

They come together for the second time that night, relishing each other's touch, breath, strength, _aliveness_. Alopex's claws drag down his shell and leans into the pain, relishing it.

They're both balanced on a razor blade above an endless storm of dark memories and darker fears. The only way they can keep from falling is to hold on to one another for dear life.


End file.
